Volume 3 | Issue 12 | Article ID 1640 | Dec 12, 2005 The Asia-Pacific Journal | Japan Focus

"The Most Crucial Education": Saotome Katsumoto and Japanese Anti-War Thought

Matthew Penney

"The Most Crucial Education": Saotome 295 seats in the Diet. Progressive parties like Katsumoto and Japanese Anti-War Thought the Japanese Communist Party and Social Democratic Party, whose representation By Matthew Penney plummeted in the 1990s, were held to a mere nine and seven seats respectively. Nevertheless, when polled about the Liberal Tahara Soichiro’s Nihon no sengo (Japan’s Democratic Party’s goal of constitutional postwar), a recent work of Japanese popular revision, 62% of Japanese questioned history from one of the country’s best-selling responded that they would not approve of the and most widely read journalists, bears the elimination of the “peace-clause”. [2] This provocative subtitle “Were we mistaken?” [1] suggests that while progressives have failed to This question, asked of the entire postwar secure seats in the Diet, their fundamental period, is representative of a significant current position on war and peace has considerable in contemporary Japanese thought – the idea currency. A significant reason behind this is the that Japan has strayed from the “correct” path prevalence of anti-war images in Japanese and failed to live up to international “norms”. popular culture. In recent years, Japanese debates about war and peace, on both sides of the ideological Author Saotome Katsumoto wrote in 2002 of divide, have been influenced by this view. the “war on terror”: “Terrorism is, of course, a Conservatives play up the idea that theform of violence difficult to forgive, but the war Japanese constitution, which explicitly forbids being waged in retaliation is also violence … participation in armed conflict and thewhere and in what way can we put on the maintenance of military forces, means that the brakes?” [3] For Saotome, war is wrong, and nation has not been able to play a role in world the “war on terror” an unjustifiable threat to affairs appropriate to its economic might. world peace. Saotome, a survivor of the 10 Progressives criticize the JapaneseMarch 1945 American air raid on that government’s failure to adequately apologize killed over 100,000 civilians and left five million and compensate the victims of colonialism and homeless, became a popular anti-war author. war for aggression and atrocities. In both He is also a veteran grass-roots socialist views, Japan is abnormal, and incapable of activist and a lifelong supporter of progressive living up to “universals” – either the “universal” politics. After writing for Akahata (Red Flag), right to self-defense and duty to participate in the Japan Communist Party paper in the 1960s international conflicts like the “war on terror”, and the 1970s, Saotome moved into a career as or the necessity to inculcate the view that “war a writer of non-fiction. [4] He is one of Japan’s is wrong” and the idea that past crimes must be most prolific authors on subjects of war and dealt with honestly in the public sphere. peace having written volumes for some of the most significant non-fiction series in the In the 11 September 2005 election, the Liberal Japanese language – the Shinsho series from Democrats won a landslide victory, capturing Iwanami Shoten aimed at adults and the

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Iwanami Junior Shinsho and Kusa no ne haha to Saotome has long emphasized the importance ko de miru (Grassroots mother and child see) of anti-war education: “'Those who cannot learn series for children. These works are a staple at from history are doomed to repeat it’ is the public and school libraries across Japan and at warning of philosopher George Santayana and major booksellers. at present, I think that the first thing that we can do for the sake of peace is to know and to learn.” [9] Through education, “universal” values and the “universal” goal “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” can be achieved. Saotome’s perspective is not only rooted in local narratives and the image of the Japanese people as victims of war. It draws upon a wide variety of anti-war images. His books include Haha to ko de miru: Nankin kara no tegami (Mother and child see: a letter from Nanking) and Betonamu 200 man nin gashi no kiroku: 1945 nen nihon senryo no moto de (A record of the starvation of 2,000,000 in Vietnam: 1945 under Japanese occupation). Photograph of Tokyo in the wake of of March 10, 1945 Writing on the atomic bombs and the firebombing of Japanese cities, Saotome Saotome’s work highlights peace as asympathetically portrays the plight of Japanese “universal” value. For example, he wrote: “The victims. This “victim’s narrative” exists, twentieth century is often said to be the however, side by side with powerful statements century of war. Of course, in the first half there of Japanese as assailants in war. In the hands of were two world wars and in the second there writers like Saotome, perspectives like victim were various civil wars and conflicts which did and assailant, inside and outside, are not not go away, but we must also turn our eyes to dichotomous but can constitute a a movement in human history to outlaw war.” comprehensive critique of war. The suffering [5] He points to the failed League of Nations brought about through the use of organized and to the as significant steps violence, be it the suffering of the Japanese in the direction of this “universal” anti-war people in war, the suffering of others at ideal. [6] He also emphasizes the UN charter Japanese hands, or suffering as manifested in and the promise “[t]o save succeedinginternational anti-war symbols like Auschwitz generations from the scourge of war, which and Vietnam, are all conveyed to readers. twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind” as embodying a “universal” goal. I will examine three of Saotome’s major works [7] Saotome quotes Oscar Arias Sanchez, the to highlight the central themes of his former president of Costa Rica, a country that perspective on war. The 1979 children’s title he admires for disbanding its military, who says Tokyo ga moeta hi (The day Tokyo burned), “[y]ou cannot protect us by digging trenches or while primarily concerned with the suffering of putting up high defensive walls. Instead, we Japanese civilians in wartime, also shows the need to educate human hearts to believe in Japanese as assailants in war, thereby goodwill, harmony, human tolerance,providing a critique of Japan-centric narratives. generosity, and sympathy.” [8] In a similar vein Betonamu 200 man nin gashi

2 3 | 12 | 0 APJ | JF no kiroku: 1945 nen nihon senryo no moto de half of the population were born after the end offers a critique not only of past actions by the of the war. [12] The necessity to teach about US and Japan, but also of contemporary Japan. the “tragedy of war” to this group became an Finally, Ikiru koto to manabu koto (Living and important factor in discourses about education learning), published in 1997, uses war to and in historical writing for children. [13] This illustrate Saotome’s philosophy of education was a major concern of Saotome’s, expressed and his understanding of war and peace. In most clearly when he wrote: sum, Saotome deploys both global and local themes to zero in on both international wars "If you ask ‘what day is 10 March?’ I wonder and Japan’s war experiences. how many people can quickly recall the Tokyo air raid? Just recently, while working for a The Day Tokyo Burned certain broadcaster, I put the microphone in front of Tokyo primary school students and In 1979, Iwanami Shoten, Japan’s leading when I asked that question, the children just progressive publisher, inaugurated a non- turned their heads and looked blank. I thought fiction series for children patterned after its that there would at least be one child who most popular line, the Shinsho series. The knows about the Tokyo air raid but the result series introduces historical and culturalwas zero. Although it was something I had themes. The editors wrote: envisioned, I was still surprised and You, the young generation, are standing at the depressed." [14] starting line of your lives … modern society is burdened with many contradictions … the Saotome begins his anti-war appeal and threat of the annihilation of humanity through argument for the importance of remembrance nuclear war, human inequality beginning with and education with the idea of the Japanese the gap between rich and poor … for the peace people as victims of war: and development of mankind, you urgently need to apply yourselves and gain new wisdom. "Like the sorrowful tragedy of the atomic [10] bombings of and Nagasaki, I had wanted to think that children would be Saotome Katsumoto’s Tokyo ga moeta hi, the encouraged to keep in their hearts, in some fifth volume in the Junior Shinsho series which form, the memory of 10 March Tokyo air raid in has since swelled to nearly 500 titles, remains which 100,000 lives were lost in a single night, in print today. Saotome explained: I wrote this as an example of the importance and dignity of book with a desire to tell of my experiences at human lives. However, I wonder if this was only 12 years old, on that day, 10 March, to my own my hope?" [15] child who has suddenly become a middle school student of that same age, and to otherThis attempt to bring about the “peace and members of that generation." [11] development of mankind” begins by recalling the firebombing of Tokyo alongside the These comments fit into a larger trend in experience of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Tokyo Japanese popular thought – resistance to what ga moeta hi vividly describes the mindset has been described as the fuka (weathering) of behind the indiscriminate bombing of civilians. war experience and the importance of teaching Of General LeMay, who orchestrated the the lessons of the to “children who American bombing campaign, Saotome writes do not know war”. The latter phrase is the title that: of a hit 1968 folk tune which struck a popular chord in its description of a Japan in which over "We can well understand how much General

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LeMay valued the lives of his subordinates [and such an attitude] was not just limited to General LeMay. . . . If the life of one person was treasured so greatly, what can be made of the 100,000 lives lost in a single night by indiscriminate bombing? Was it the same as wiping out small bugs?" [16]

He continues:

"However, if we are going to condemn the indiscriminate bombing of ordinary civilians, it is not only LeMay and America. We also cannot lose sight of the fact that in 1937, the year of the outbreak of the war between Japan and , the Japanese army, after occupying the Chinese capital of Nanking and massacring civilians there, chased Chiang Kai-shek’s government to … the city of Chongqing and from February of the following year carried out indiscriminate bombing raids that included non-combatants as targets some 46 times." [17]

With the Chinese example, Saotome transcends the “Japanese as victim” conceptualization to universalize the plight of civilians in wartime General Curtis LeMay bombing. The suggestion, common in the English-language press and in monographs like The bombing of North Vietnam provided a Erna Paris’ Long Shadows: truth, lies, and rallying point for anti-war thinkers including history, that Japanese authors exclusively Saotome. Saotome emphasizes not only project the image of Japanese as victims in war American aggression in Vietnam but Japan’s is overly simplistic. [18] Saotome looks at the supporting role. From the firebombing of Tokyo problem of indiscriminate bombing of civilian and the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and populations from a variety of angles, showing Nagasaki to Japanese atrocities in China and Japanese people both as victims and assailants. provision of support for US bombing of Vietnam, Saotome presents a compelling palette of US war crimes complementing his Saotome extends the discussion of LeMay and critique of Japanese crimes in the Pacific War. civilian bombing to the Vietnam War: "LeMay, In the 1980s, Saotome condemned Japanese using the B52 strategic … in place of war atrocities in the same terms he used to the B29, rained North Vietnam with fire – promote awareness among young readers of genocidal indiscriminate bombing – all the the bombing of Tokyo. while saying ‘I’ll bomb them back into the stone age." [19] Starvation Under Occupation

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In 1993, Saotome published a book aimed at help us consider the human condition from the adults entitled Betonamu 200 man nin gashi no past to the present and into the future." [26] kiroku: 1945 nen nihon senryo no moto de. [20] As is usual in Saotome’s non-fiction, he begins Saotome deploys historical examples as the by relating his own experiences. He writes basis for a contemporary critique designed to about wartime rationing, about how school inspire reflection on global poverty and to supplies for children were far from a priority emphasize Japan’s responsibility to provide aid during the war years, and about feelings of for the less fortunate. dejection. [21] The first part of the work, which describes Japanese mothers crying because "The Elite"—Auschwitz and Unit 731 they did not know where they would get the rice to feed their children, sets the stage for In 1997 Saotome published Ikiru koto to the discussion of Vietnamese hardships. [22] manabu koto (Living and learning) in the The image of Japanese suffering is an effective Iwanami Junior Shinsho series. [27] The work jumping-off point for Saotome’s subsequent deals with war but focuses on the critique of commentary. This is an important element of elitism – elite students or elite bureaucrats. the work’s structure and a technique that “Elite” status and the assumption that justice Saotome has exploited frequently. Afterand rationality go along with it, he argues, are outlining rice shortages in wartime Japan, he behind the scientific and organized killing that tells how rice taken from Vietnam (then under took place at Auschwitz. [28] Japanese rule) precipitated famine there that some believe may have claimed over 2,000,000 Saotome describes his first visit to Auschwitz in lives. [23] powerful terms: “I still can’t forget the violent shock that I received when I first visited here.” Saotome also states that his research helped [29] It was the mountains of eyeglasses and him “to understand the true form of the children’s toys that made the biggest ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’ that impression on the author. Japanese militarism had built up in Indochina.” [24] He paints a startling picture of starvation in words and photographs to bring out the full force of the tragedy.

However, Saotome is interested in doing more than showing the Japanese army as assailants of the Vietnamese population. Most of the rice taken from the Vietnamese, the cause of mass starvation, was consumed by Japanese civilians. [25] Saotome makes this point in part to force his audience to think about the issues of agency in war, about victims and assailants, and in part to inspire reflection on Japan’s prosperity and place in the world in 1993. He writes,Mountain of eyeglasses at Auschwitz "Starvation, refugees, and the poverty problem are not just things of the distant past.Saotome links the crimes of Auschwitz to According to a UNICEF report from late last elements of the Nazi organization and the year, 35,000 children die of malnutrition and “elite” status of its leaders. Saotome does not disease every day … I hope that this book will blame what happened on the “German

5 3 | 12 | 0 APJ | JF character” but rather on flawed values that are has attempted to answer this question in a not limited to . “I am just another lifetime of anti-war education – appealing to human being; if I was placed in the same Japan’s direct responsibility even while position, I wonder if I would have done the exploring global anti-war symbols such as same thing.” [30] Auschwitz, Hiroshima, and Vietnam.

Saotome’s comments about Auschwitz and Saotome examines the interplay between the universal responsibility serve as a jumping off Japanese people as victims of war, as in the point for a discussion of . Tokyo and Hiroshima bombings, and as "If we move our eyes from Europe to the assailants, as in the China war and signature nations of Asia, Japanese militarism’s fangs of atrocities such as the and Unit aggression were being bared with rage.” [31] 731, and ranging over past and present both to appeal to a common humanity and to highlight He discusses Unit 731, a branch of the Japan’s responsibility. Japanese army charged with developing biological and chemical weapons in Manchuria Others have deployed “universal” symbols of and North China, which carried out human war and atrocity for precisely opposite ends. experimentation, ending in the murder of more Since 1996, members of the Atarashii rekishi than 3,000 Chinese and other victims. The elite kyokasho wo tsukurukai (Society for the status of the doctors and the “scientificCreation of a New History Textbook) and like- progress” represented by their experiments minded writers have also employed globalized legitimated the atrocities that Saotomeimages in their writing. Their aim, far from describes in horrific detail. He also introduces documenting Japanese responsibility for war an analogy that strikes close to home for crimes, however, has been to downplay Americans, writing that the scientists “… Japanese imperialism and aggression as no assumed that they had made a contribution to more than trivial examples among far greater Japanese medicine. This is just like theatrocities. Nishio Kanji, in his influential researchers devoted to the development of Kokumin no rekishi (History of the people of weapons of mass destruction like the atomic the nation) for example, plays up examples bomb.” [32] from other countries, noting that “This book is overflowing with interest in foreign countries In his discussion of “the elite”, Saotome not as there are even more references to China, only presents the Chinese as victims, but an Europe and America than to Japan.” [34] association between Nazi terror in Europe, Nishio’s examples, particularly those of Japanese aggression in Asia, and USEuropean and American imperialism, are firebombing and atomic bombing of Japanese designed precisely to excuse Japan’s brutal civilians. colonial domination throughout Asia as a reaction to the “Western” threat in a period Conclusion when imperialism was considered a given and thus entirely justifiable. [35] The universal Saotome Katsumoto’s anti-war commentary example in Nishio’s hands provides a rationale reflects a deep personal conflict. He writes of for all Japanese wartime behavior. Similarly, in his own war experience: “I can’t say ‘I was just the popular Sensoron (On War), manga artist a kid so I was a victim of war’ and leave it at Kobayashi Yoshinori uses the abuses of that. Even if just for a short time, I worked in a Western imperialists in Asia to justify Japanese weapons factory – I have an assailant’s side as actions. [36] These arguments stress that Japan well. How should I think about this?” [33] He is not unique, and that what critics present as

6 3 | 12 | 0 APJ | JF its flaws are instead “universal values”.very different tone and means of articulating Ironically, such views emphasizing theideas about history. It is here that Saotome universality of colonialism, war and atrocitiy, Katsumoto’s genius for communicating difficult are frequently coupled in the work of writers themes to all levels of Japan’s reading public like Kobayashi and Nishio with insistence on becomes evident. Saotome has successfully Japanese uniqueness, usually in the form of drawn upon the image of the Japanese side as glorification of the wartime rhetoric of freedom both victim and assailant in war in support of a and cooperation in “Greater East Asia”. comprehensive anti-war critique. He has also demonstrated a gift for bringing historical In the end, however, revisionist viewpoints themes into contemporary focus. His use of the have, in the works of Saotome Katsumoto and Nazi and Unit 731 examples to question the other likeminded authors, a powerful popular nature of Japanese education is a powerful case counterpoint. The awareness that Japanese in point. In this way, his anti-war themes have been both victims and victimizers in war transcend a purely historical discussion and is not limited to Saotome. It can be found in the become part of a far-reaching social critique. works of noted Japanese scholar-activists such Saotome’s basic message that “war is wrong” as Oda Makoto, Ienaga Saburo, and Fujiwara and that education must guard against it may Akira. It is also an important dimension of be a simple one, but in a time when rightwing many works published outside of Japan such as sound bytes have become increasingly strong, John Dower’s War Without Mercy, which and in the context of the Japanese discusses cruelties on all sides of the Pacific government’s continued ambiguity and silence conflict. [37] Other works such as the collection on issues of aggression and atrocity, it is Censoring History, edited by Laura Hein and significant. Theodore Adorno, in a 1966 radio Mark Selden, also bring this problem into broadcast entitled “Education After Auschwitz”, focus. [38] The view of the Japanese as both commented that “The demand that Auschwitz victim and aggressor has also surfaced in must never happen again is the most crucial works such as Gomikawa Junpei’s bestselling education. It is so much more important than novel Ningen no Joken (The Human Condition). anything else that I don’t feel I have to or Saotome’s importance lies not in theshould justify it.” [39] This is a vision of uniqueness of his ideas but in the breadth and education, of anti-war thought, and of depth of his approach. Drawing on images of reflection on past atrocities to inform the the Japanese as both victims and assailants in present. It is also striking in its simplicity. war as well as myriad international anti-war Saotome Katsumoto’s writings promote a symbols, Saotome has written popular works similar, simple message. This, however, is his for adults and children for over three decades. strength, his talent for bringing to mass In this time, he has challenged revisionists, audiences the idea that “war is wrong”, a point pushed for the preservation of the “peace that, supported by a variety of anti-war images clause” of the Japanese constitution, and taken from within Japan and without, he considers steps to ensure that Chinese and other Asian the “most crucial education”. voices are heard in the chorus of Japanese war remembrance. Matthew Penney, a PhD candidate at the University of Auckland, is currently conducting Japanese academic writing has offered a research concerning popular representations of prolific and nuanced critique of wartime war in Japan. This article is adapted for Japan atrocities. Academic works, however, are rarely Focus from the forthcoming book Inside-Out accessible to popular audiences, particularly to Japan: popular culture and globalisation, edited children. Reaching these readers demands a by Matthew Allen and Rumi Sakamoto

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(Routledge). Posted at Japan Focus on[19] Saotome, Tokyo ga moeta hi, p. 206. December 3, 2005. He can be contacted at [20] Saotome Katsumoto, Betonamu 200 man [email protected]. nin gashi no kiroku: 1945 nen nihon senryo no moto de (A record of the starvation of Notes: 2,000,000 in Vietnam: 1945 under Japanese occupation) (Tokyo: Otsuki Shoten, 1993). [1] Tahara Soichiro, Nihon no sengo (Japan’s [21] Ibid., pp. 7-9. Postwar) Vol. 1 (Tokyo: Kodansha, 2005). [22] Ibid., p. 8. [2] Tabuchi, H, ‘Japan seeks to amend pacifist [23] The figure of 2,000,000 dead that Saotome constitution.’ Available at: uses has been challenged. It was the figure [3] Saotome Katsumoto, Kataritsugu senso: 15 accepted by the Vietminh, but in 1945, nin no dengon (Passing on the war: the Vietnamese government officials estimated the testimony of 15 people) (Tokyo: Kawade Shobo, total dead at around 400,000. In addition, while 2002), pp. 3-4. Japanese rice requisitions were a major factor [4] Saotome Katsumoto, Saotome Katsumoto behind the famine, typhoon damage and the (Tokyo: Nihon Tosho Senta, 2004) pp. 252-3. disruption of rice transport as a result of [5] Saotome Katsumoto, Kataritsugu senso, p. American bombing were also contributing 3. factors. Ogura Sadao, Monogatari Betonamu no [6] Ibid., p. 3. Rekishi (The Story of Vietnamese History) [7] Ibid., p. 3. (Tokyo: Chuokoronsha, 1997), pp. 345-346. [8] Ibid., p. 4. [24] Saotome Katsumoto, Betonamu 200 man [9] Saotome Katsumoto, ‘Ima senso o kangaeru’ nin gashi no kiroku, p. 177. (Considering war now), in Iwanami Shoten [25] Ibid., pp. 129-44. Henshubu ed. Boku-tachi no ima (Our now), [26] Ibid., p. 180. (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2002), p. 67. [27] Saotome Katsumoto, Ikiru koto to manabu [10] Iwanami Shoten Henshubu, ‘Iwanami koto (Living and learning) (Tokyo: Iwanami jyunia shinsho no hossoku ni sai shite (On the Shoten, 1997). occasion of the start of Iwanami Junior[28] Ibid., pp. 8-10. Shinsho)’, in Iwanami Shoten Henshubu ed. [29] Ibid., pp. 9-10. Bokutachi no ima (Our now) (Tokyo: Iwanami [30] Ibid., p. 12. Shoten, 2002). [31] Ibid., p. 13. [11] Saotome Katsumoto, Tokyo ga moeta hi [32] Ibid., p. 14. (The day Tokyo burned) (Tokyo: Iwanami [33] Saotome Katsumoto, Senso to kodomo- Shoten, 1979), p. 212. tachi (War and children) (Tokyo: Otsuki Shoten, [12] Kitayama Osamu, “Senso wo shiranai 2003), p. 2. kodomotachi,” (The children who do not know [34] Nishio Kanji, Kokumin no rekishi (History war) in Nihon no uta (Japanese songs), vol. 4 of the people of the nation) (Tokyo: Sankei (Tokyo: Nobarasha, 1998), p. 123. Shimbun-sha, 1999), p. 768. [13] Yoshida Yutaka, Nihonjin no Sensokan [35] Kibata, Y. ‘Kokumin no rekishi no seiozo to (Japanese views of war) (Tokyo: Iwanami nihon teikoku shugi (The view of the West of Shoten, 1995), pp. 106-8. history of the people of the nation and Japanese [14] Saotome, Tokyo ga moeta hi, p. 209. imperialism)’, in Kyokasho ni Shinjitsu to Jiyu o’ [15] Ibid., p. 210. Renraku-kai (ed.) Tettei hihan: kokumin no [16] Ibid., p. 204-5. rekishi (A complete criticism of history of the [17] Ibid., p. 206. people of the nation) (Tokyo: Otsuki Shoten, [18] Erna Paris, Long Shadows – Truth, Lies 2000), pp. 245-7. and History (London: Bloomsbury, 2001). [36] Kobayashi Yoshinori, Sensoron (Tokyo:

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Gentosha, 1998), pp. 27-34. Germany, and the (New York: M. [37] John Dower, War Without Mercy: Race and E. Sharpe, 2000). Power in the Pacific War (New York: Pantheon [39] Rathenow, H., “Teaching in Books, 1986). Germany”, in Ian Davies ed. Teaching the [38] Laura Hein, Mark Selden, ed., Censoring Holocaust – Educational Dimensions, Principles History: Citizenship and Memory in Japan, and Practices (London: Continuum, 2000), p. 73

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